Trump official mocked after claiming solar doesn't work at night: 'It's called a battery'

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum seemed unaware that solar energy could be stored in batteries to provide power at night.

During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Wednesday, Burgum complained about claims that solar power was the "cheapest form of energy."

"All of these projects are describing in Nevada have one thing in common," Burgum said. "When the sun goes down, they produce zero electricity. And this nation over-rotated towards intermittent forms of energy. And the idea that we could add intermittent and shut down baseload is what put our grid at deep risk."

"You may have an incremental source, but it doesn't work," he continued. "The whole machine doesn't work when the sun goes down. And there's examples from around the world of this happening."

The interior secretary suggested that House members needed secure briefings to understand how the solar energy industry worked.

"Very few of these components for the solar industry are coming from the U.S.," he insisted. "They're coming from China."

"And I just want to have a rational discussion with everybody," Burgum added. "This is not an ideological thing. It's about reliable, affordable, and secure. Those three things. I'm all for rational conversation about it."

Following his remarks, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) said he wished to enter information into the official record.

"Chairman, I request unanimous consent to enter into the record," the California Democrat requested, "this amazing new technology that apparently the secretary is unaware of, it's a battery."

"China's figured it out," Huffman noted. "That's why they're cleaning our clock on clean energy, but I want to enter that into the record."

Burgum has emerged as a controversial figure in the Trump administration's approach to renewable energy, overseeing the approval of solar power projects on federal lands while facing criticism from environmental advocates and energy industry stakeholders.

As head of the Department of the Interior, which manages vast tracts of public lands and oversees energy development policies, Burgum has wielded significant authority over decisions regarding solar installations on federal property.